Books #43

[daisynoon]

I recently rehomed a lot of books so the right side is definitely me 🥲

 

[pinkmug]

There is also a world of difference between reading the works of a long dead author who was "a product of their time", and supporting an alive and kicking author who is actively using their income and wealth to harm certain groups.

I agree with the erasure of the past comment as well. These works should come with some commentary and criticism but they shouldn't be avoided without thought. Erasing discriminatory media is just denying that they existed. I wish that were true but this is no different than schools in some countries pretending slavery and colonialism was entirely other countires' problems and not theirs.

 

[LaBlonde]

my june reads!

boyfriend material - alexis hall
hemlock lane - marshall lane
three days in june - anne tyler
band sinister - kj charles
blood over bright haven - ml wang
we could be so good - cat sebastian

band sinister sadly my least favourite charles (but still better than most other books!)

 

[ShiftyAndGrifty]

Love seeing some Judy Blume in these lists- for me, her books were a critical part of learning to love reading from childhood, through teen years to adulthood (along with many others including Enid Blyton, Paula Danziger, Lois Duncan, Stephen King and Sue Townsend). Summer Sisters was a great book

 

[Carapop]

Is everyone too hot and bothered to read?

(Or is it just me)

 

[nbt]

Physical
Last: Yesteryear - finally finished yesterday. Found it really overhyped!
Now: She Didn’t See It Coming - Shari Lapena
Next: Dissection of a Murder (for book club thread)

Audio
Last: Sociopath
Now: HP and the Chamber of Secrets - full cast edition
Next: Angels by Marian Keyes

 

[Carapop]

It was so so so bad. So syrupy sweet and preachy.

I find Matt Haig books to generally be overly sentimental and sweet to the point of saccharine. I liked his first (memoir?) but he just seems to be commercialising mental health related shite since.

 

[StephenTJackson]

A rather eclectic haul of books I think.

Top 2 were pre orders from Waterstones.

The rest were bought from Postscript Books, mostly on sale, a few only 99p and therefore worth a try on some books I wouldn't normally take a risk on at full price.

And a little recipe book for trying new sweet treats.

 

[LaBlonde]

Now I'm curious about the books you've all hated Mine are a bit controversial, they usually appear on a lot of favourite lists.

i hide mine really well, no one in this thread would be able to guess

i could absolutely do a bottom ten of books i’ve absolutely LOATHED for various reasons. i sometimes find writing about books i hate more entertaining than writing about the ones i love

 

[Itchy of Itchington]

Hello. I don't know if I've ever posted on the book threads but I love reading them and getting recommendations. Was very excited to see three people who had A Tree Grows In Brooklyn on their top 10. It is one of my favourites too and not many people seem to have heard of it. Loads of other books I loved too in the lists. Going to have to go back to the Tree Grows fans and see what else you enjoyed to add to my TBR pile.

My ultimate comfort read is The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice. I must read it once a year and the description of clothes is absolutely gorgeous.

Last book I read was The Road Trip by Beth O'Leary. Got in from the book swap in our hotel last week and it's an easy read, managed most of it on the flight back from Ibiza. Nothing ground breaking or especially memorable, good for on the sun lounger or plane

 

[Jellycat369]

So annoyed. My library card expired and I got booted out of my library app when I was mid sentence. Was really enjoying James too Updated my account to my new area but they don't have 90% of the books I had on my reading list

 

[emmer_moans]

The Man Carrying Things youtube channel has an interesting video on The Count of Monte Cristo called "Litslop" & gen Z's new favourite book

I think some here will like (whether or not you've read the book, whether or not you like it!) He touches on the way books are talked about on social media and on Classic novels generally.

In the comments a lot of folk are dissing Dickens for being too long and wordy but here I am loving Dickens' books He wrote dialogue really well, his Victorian characters are sterotypical but fun, to me, and the plot of the books are often thought provoking.

I also think regarding longer Classics, we forget that this was entertainment in times before music records and TV. Weekly novel serials and books were literally one of the few things people had to look forward to in their free time so of course they were long and took a while to complete.

 

[SaintLeo]

My lowest rated books on Goodreads are

Normal People - Sally Rooney - so bad that I didn’t even finish it!
Cows - Matthew Stokoe
My Husband - Maud Ventura
The Unworthy - Agustina Bazterrica
The Church Beneath the Roots - Felix Blackwell

Normal People was the one that made me feel like I was reading a completely different book to everyone else! Hated it to the point where I haven’t ever picked up anything else by Sally Rooney.

 

[anniemouse]

Woohoo!

 

[StephenTJackson]

I initially read that as you'd cut someone for telling you you had enough books and I didn't bat an eyelid

Well, I wouldn't do that. Because I might get blood on the books if I try cutting them with the books they don't want me to buy. Books don't deserve that. Even if the person deserves to be covered in irritating paper cuts.

 

[AllieBee]

Delurking for a second. Hello book people. Does anyone have any recs for good youtubers to follow? I've recently got back into reading and need some people to follow for reviews and recommendations. I'm not too fussy about what I read, but tend not to like horror. So, it could be people who review drama, romance, ya, thrillers etc. I'll give most of it a go.

TIA

Keep yourself unlurked and follow along here, theres loads of recommendations. Tbh I trust the recommendations on here more than YT or TT, just because I think booktokkers anyway mostly go for hyped books which always seem to fall flat for me! But thats personal experience and sure someone else can throw a few names your way to follow!

 

[CommentBelow]

Woohoo! View attachment 4039025

I finished mine too - but.. I confess I changed the dates of a book I read in April to June to get the final bookmark 🫣

 

[daisynoon]

My June! Thank you to whoever mentioned Kin - I loved it! Also read How High We Go in the Dark, The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and Appointment with Death from our list and enjoyed them all.

 

[Hannahebee]

I love nothing more than sitting down and reading a nice cosy murder mystery.

 

[LaBlonde]

I support the quarter stars, if I had my way Goodreads would have a slider rating system rather than stars Sometimes you just hate a book a little bit.

i completely agree! i want to be able to give quarter and half stars this especially bugs me when a book is a solid 3.5 stars and doesn’t deserve 4 or 3.